All-American Girls Professional Baseball League reunion in Kenosha
Tracy Sunday has a very personal connection to the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
Her grandmother, Joyce Hill Westerman, played in the league from 1945 to 1952.
“She was a fierce catcher and also helped the five teams she played on in the outfield and on first base,” Sunday said. “My grandma ended her career being a key reason why the South Bend Blue Sox won the championship in 1952.”
Westerman, who was raised on a farm in Pleasant Prairie and graduated from Bradford High School, started her baseball career as a catcher with the Grand Rapids Chicks, going on to play for the Peoria Redwings, the Racine Belles, Fort Wayne Daisies and the South Bend Blue Sox.
The women’s league was relatively unknown until the 1992 film “A League of Their Own” — starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell — brought new attention to the league and women like Westerman who played in it.
